A Method for Assessing the Selection of a Photovoltaic System for a Building’s Energy Needs Based on Unsupervised Clustering

Smart Grid, integrating modern information and communication technologies with traditional power infrastructure, is already widely used in many countries around the world. Its domain is generating large amounts of energy and, at the same time, measuring data from various sources, especially Renewable Energy Sources. Acquiring measurement data from generators and power receivers requires appropriate infrastructure and tools. An even greater challenge is the effective processing of measurement data in order to obtain information helpful in energy management in Smart Grid. The article will present an effective method of acquiring and processing measurement data from a photovoltaic system with a peak power of 50 kWp supplying the administrative building of the university. Unsupervised clustering will be used to create signatures of both generated and consumed power. Analysis of the relationships between measured network parameters in the three-state space allows for a quick determination of the power generated by the photovoltaic system and the power needed to power the building. The applied approach can have a wide practical application, both in Energy Management in institutional buildings. It can also be successfully used to train AI algorithms to categorize operating states in Smart Grid. The traditional and AI-assisted algorithms used by the authors are used to obtain practical information about the operation of Smart Grid. Such expert-validated knowledge is highly desirable in Advanced Process Control, which aims to optimize processes in real time.